Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-02-26
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEGISLATORS


AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEGISLATORS.
There is pcnding bill in the Legisla-
ture for the creation of State Board of
Charities. 1t is not perfect, because Cali
fornia has not laid the foundation Ger
complete measure, which she will event
ually place. But the bill deserves to be
erected into law.
It sould be something to be told for
decades, with honor to every Senator and
Representative in the Legislature, if at
this time, with calendars loaded down
by nearly thousand bills, the Houses
would rise superior TO SELF politics and
extraneous influences, and take up and
pass the half-dozeu or so of essentially
gosd wholly anol.jeetionable, and abso-
lutely needed measures which are now be-
fore the body, but behind which are none
Of the motors money, political advantage
or sel.-interest And one of these is the
bill referred to, which aims only to correct
great evils, to bring order out Of system
less practice, stop the recruiting for tie
criminal class, and do something towards
making good men and women out of I'M
fortunate children, to say nothing of saw
ing to the State over 4 quarter of million
dollars biennially.
The chief difficulty in the way is lack
of information among the great mass of
people concerning the real progress that is
and may be made in the reclamation of
maynard children, the reformation OF
criminals, and the prevention of the max
ing of criminals We insult no intelli-
genee when we say that an erroneous i'm
preston very generally obtains that the
only thing to do with classes-criminal, or
likely TO become criminal if not prevented,
is to incarcerate them; on discharge, mark
and brand them, pat officers upon their
track, and expose them TO the temptation
and blacllmail of hardened offenders, and
thus drive them back TO trimina! paths.
That the only method to be employed to
make GOOD man out of a homeless or
williut boy is to put the garb OF semi
penal institution on his back, and thus
forever attach TO him the faint Of the Jail
bird, put up social bars against his whole
life, and give him to understand that he
never can pass them.
Le, US look at the facts. We have only
institutions for homeless children in
California As a result, the shiftless, de-
graded aud criminal ;mpng parents east
the care OF thousands of children upon the
institutions, simply because they are pro-
yided. In making this provision, there
fore we absolutely foster the muliip,iea-
ton Of the waywarI class and dependents.
We are far from saving that some iusiitu-
.ions should not lie maintained but they
should relate Only to the very juvenile
orphan class, and for all Others, aud even
these where possible. homes -honld be had
and Dissertation from institutions Of
feeted. There is work enough for orphgn
asylums, in the case Of those clearly of the
class tor whose welfare the heneyoieu! give
of their time, talent, affection and means.
Ii was shown recently at the Convention
Of Charities in San Francisco, that we have
in California 1000 INDECENT children in
institutions, or one to every 250 Of the
population. Yet ii the United States at
large there is but one to 200. In Massa
cnusetts, Vermont and some other States,
the dependent children are but one to
5000 or 5000; Michigan has but one to
9,S46 Of her population, yet it is dense
and more than twice as great as ours. We
expend in California $4,000 every year
for the care of our Juvenile dependent
wards: Michigan expends but $4,000.
california, with 100000 people, has 1900
dependent children Michigan, with over
100000 poprlatior, has pa only. Cali
fornia expenis q: the present rate $780,,
600 per decade, Michigan but $350000.
In California tac helpless and wayward
juvenile classes ana dependents are alarm
ingly augmenting; in Michigan, Massa-
chusetts, Vermont, Ohio and other States,
even in New York, it is declining.
Now there is something radically wrong
when such comparison of exhibits is pos
sihle. and the wrong is certainly on our
side. Our institutional system is simply
encouraging the making of hoodlums; our
prison system is criminal manufacturing
enterprise; such little prison reformatory
system as We maintain is feeble and little
effective. Establish State Board
of Charities to study the question, report
the facts and do what it may to correct
our error; abandon institutions of punish
ment for children and substitute the sys-
TEN of placing these wards in the homes
of the land, as is done in Massachusetts,
New York and Miehigan forever aban-
don all idea Of such institutions as that
burning shame, the Industrial School at
San Francisco; give up the plan Of uni
forming children with institutional re-
gala; set up the parole system for con-
victs, give the Pathological Commission a
fair field 10 apply to prisons the wisdom
born of the experience Of half century